Cheery's country living adventure

rtandon27

I love the concept of fun money!  We have a small pot for eating out, and a small separate pot for each of us - saves lots of money discussions - a bit like having adult pocket money - if it's gone then tough luck!

hb2

I completely agree that a bit of fun is absolutely necessary in life, we call the money that funds this our 'smile money'.

Cheery_Daff

We instigated ours when Mr Cheery left his job years ago and was worried about money so wouldn't go for a cuppa in a cafe. I kept track of money and knew full well that we had enough, so allocated a Treats Budget, which HAD to be spent on treats 😂 Years later and it still does its job. I still keep track of finances, he still periodically worries that we don't have enough. We have plenty - and I ensure that the treats budget never runs out, however many cafe trips we have 😉😁

I should point out we're not particularly profligate in other ways of personal spending. Mr Cheery spends pretty much nothing on himself, the occasional charity shop shirt or a packet of quorn cocktail sausages 😂 I am far more capable of frittered 🙄 but as I have close handle on the overall budget, it never gets out of hand. 

I'm not a control freak, honest 😮 I've just spent years on here, and he has no interest in tracking money, so it works out pretty well I think.

Cheery_Daff

Anyway, touch wood, this week is ending better than it started! I went into Monday apprehensive about starting back at work, taking elderly chickens to the vets, and the builders arriving. 

Chickens are fine, first thing I found back at work was my successful funding bid, and (again, fingers crossed for all these things) the builders are cheery. 

They are SO considerate. The main guy is lovely, he's been SO easy to communicate with, he's helped us find ways of having all the mad things we want, not even screwing up his face when we've chosen an odd option for something 😂 His assistant is a cheery woman who's been training as a plumber but getting experience of everything, and she's lovely too. 

We were quite anxious about having them in the house all the time, but after 4 days it's working out fine, even with me working. Touch wood.

They're taking the long weekend off, so we've got til Tuesday letting the chickens out every day 😁

beanielou

So glad all going to plan.
Have a cheery weekend   

edwink

Glad it is all nice and cheery at yours and the kitchen work is going ok.  At least you can relax a bit now after all the coordinating and hard work you have been involved in. 

It is good that the chickens are all ok and that you managed to get the run extension done in time. That was a weight of your shoulders, I'm sure.

Enjoy your trips out to the cafe for tea and cake etc. you definitely deserve them 😊😊😊

Edwink x

 

themadvix

Really glad the builders are lovely - it makes such a difference to how much you can get on and relax while they're there.

It's all sounding good!

Cheery_Daff

No builders today, so the chickens are roaming free, which they are very pleased about. Edwink, yes we are delighted that we finished their run in time! So pleased. We do want to add an extra fence round the outside but not now... (although stupidly i bought the timber for it - might stick it in an outbuilding so I'm not falling over it and feeling guilty).

Today is my last working Friday EVER!! 😁😁😁 Seem to remember I said that around the end of 2014 when I dropped to 4 day weeks the first time 😂😂 I managed just over a year I think, before I switched jobs and went back to full time, which I've now been doing since the start of 2016 - 5 years 8 months 😮

Let's see if I can manage longer this time 😂 Not anticipating a job switch in the next few years but you never know what exciting things will come along....

Had my first 'proper' meeting this morning (not with a close colleague) - a student disciplinary meeting 🙄 Not my students, I was just on the panel, which is a bit like a tiny version of jury service 🙄

Right, might go and find something momentous to do with my last Friday 😂

rtandon27

I had to have a little sit down when lovely & builders appeared in the same sentence!  You are very lucky to have them Cheery, the ones who have been working on our rental place are a complete nightmare!

Cheery_Daff

Our last ones (who did the ceiling joists 2 years ago) weren't great. One was nice, but brought along a more experienced mate, who was basically cutting corners all the time. You'd have a conversation then they'd do the opposite of what you agreed. We both got very stressed having them around - partly why we were so apprehensive about this lot 🙄

But this bloke had a lot of excellent reviews on the council Trusted Trader website, and I just got a good vibe when I originally spoke to him - before he agreed to come and visit we had several emails about the nature and scope of the job,and the kind of amount we were wanting to spend and so what would be realistic for that cost. He made it clear how long we'd have to wait, and kept me updated. His quote was realistic instead of cheap I think, and he's always rung when he said he would, replied promptly to emails, been absolutely clear in communicating. 

Of course that all meant he was in high demand and we had to wait almost 7 months for him to start after the original quote 😂 But touch wood, so far he's been worth the wait. Phew!